(Silver Arrow/Stomp)

Here at Rave Magazine, we actually listen to the CDs we review. Call us old-fashioned…

With their first album of all-new studio material in six years, the recently reformed Crowes must have found themselves in an awkward position. They’ve sold over 20 million albums worldwide, surely there’s not much left to prove…except maybe whether they deserve to still be around. The good news is that Warpaint makes a very good argument for their continued existence. The influences rise pretty quickly to the surface; the band obviously still love their Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones, with equal nods to Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith’s merging of hard rock and boozy blues. But it’s a much more convincing and confident release than the last time I heard anyone else attempt this ie. the Stones’ A Bigger Bang. The album kicks off with Daughters Of The Revolution, a swaggering and harmonious anthem that highlights Rich Robinson’s slide guitar work and newcomer Adam MacDougall’s mastery of the ivories. I entertained the idea of running down to the bottle-o, just so I could take swigs from a Jack Daniels bottle while listening to the rest of the album. While strutting, lots of strutting. Likewise, the classic riff-rock of Wee Who See The Deep could have been as derivative as a Triple M compilation, but the pre-chorus harmonies led by Chris Robinson’s road-weary wail ties it all together quite nicely. They’re no longer the coolest kids in school, but it sure doesn’t sound like they mind. They’re the ones who grew up, bought some cool jeans and got some badass tattoos while everybody else was going to dull house parties and knocking up their highschool sweethearts.

****

MITCH ALEXANDER

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*